Motion Graphics: Carabao Cup Final 2024

Klopp’s farewell tour officially begun on Sunday after Liverpool’s dramatic win against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup Final. Sky Post Production worked with the Sky Sports EFL production team to create a powerful and atmospheric promo around the theme of 'succession'.

Executive Producer Mat Roberts decided a Succession style opener would work really well to highlight Klopp's Liverpool legacy and Pochettino's opportunity to build one at Chelsea.

Nick Pugh worked with Joe Richardson to create the bulk of the look and style, alongside Murat Kebir and Mark Sison. The VO was recorded externally with Brian Cox and Finn Curry completed the audio mix back at Sky Post.

Nick Pugh explains how he put together the look and style of the Opener:

"I began the edit in Avid, with a music cut first. In the world of shortform music governs the entire piece, so I usually start here. I also received the script and a guide VO track so I knew which sections we needed to cover, and started to put those sections in at the right points in the music and chose shots that would really tell this story.

We had a blend of modern day footage and archive pictures, some dating back to the 1960s - I chose to apply two strong, definitive looks that would identify each, and I often chose imperfect framing - such as a fan being half on and half off screen - to create a kinetic and energetic atmosphere.

We mimicked the editorial style of Succession with lots of jump cuts, and we added artefacts and used plugins with names such as "VHS" to really dial up the home video style for the older footage.

The modern footage had a cool, clinical feel with a letterbox added to make it feel fresh, and we ramped up the blue to make it feel 'Succession'. In contrast the archive was desaturated with the colour largely drained out, making it feel washed out and old, like a faded reel of film."

In Audio, Finn Curry brought the reverb!

"For the Carabao Cup Promo the main element was obviously Brian Cox's voice. It's a well known voice and so I EQ'd him a bit to try and add even more to the gravitas/authority that he exudes. With the football SFX (the comms and goal sounds) I added a bit of Reverb to keep it sounding epic and in keeping with the feel of the promo. The main aim after that was to mix the music nice and high, where possible, to give it a bit of sound."

This was a great team effort that set the tone for a huge game!

Matt Roberts, Exec Producer, said, "It really set up the day for us, on one of Sky Sport’s football’s showpiece days. We had an average audience of 3.2m with a 4m peak – and that opener set the tone for a dramatic afternoon! Thanks to all involved."